9. Alice - Alice Sweet Alice (1976)
Little Karen (a young Brooke Shields) is as cute as the day is long and she is preparing for her first communion. Father Tom gave her his mother's crucifix and her jealous, ill tempered older sister Alice puts on a scary mask and kidnaps one of Karen's dolls. She terrorises her little sister. In a shocking turn of events, Karen is murdered in the church on the day of her first communion by a person wearing a yellow mac and the scary mask Alice used to frighten Karen a few days ago. Alice sneaks into the church with her yellow mac and goes to receive communion in Karen's place. When Karen's body is found, the horror confounds everyone. Is Alice responsible for her sister's death and the killings that follow it? A lot of people seem to think so and she is sent to a mental hospital for evaluation. But is she a mere scapegoat whilst the real killer runs loose? The film has some really freaky Catholic imagery going on and all of the characters are memorably portrayed by the excellent cast. It reminded me of a Giallo rather than a straight horror film - there was that much plot twisting and mystery. Paula Sheppard gives a bravura performance as the creepy kid Alice. She is morose and taciturn - obviously very troubled. But is she homicidally inclined? Definitely a sinister kid and not one that you would like to parent.